


Girls' night

by nishiki



Series: Thistle and Weeds [17]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Big Brother Diego Hargreeves, Big Brother Luther Hargreeves, Big Sister Allison Hargreeves, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Canon Divergence, Diego Hargreeves-centric, Diego is being sweet, Diego taking care of Klaus, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Good Sibling Luther Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Luther taking care of Klaus, Movie Night, No Apocalypse, No Apocalypse (Umbrella Academy), POV Diego Hargreeves, Post-Season/Series 01, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Luther Hargreeves, Sad Klaus Hargreeves, Sibling Bonding, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Soft Diego Hargreeves, Soft Luther Hargreeves, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, brothers taking care of each other, girls night, so soft, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22972225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: Klaus is having a girls' night - with the boys.----------Can be read as stand-alone
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Thistle and Weeds [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1291607
Comments: 14
Kudos: 298





	Girls' night

Sometimes, looking back on his choices in life, Diego Hargreeves could only question where he had gone wrong to end up here, at this very moment in the endless stream of time.  _ Here _ , in this case, was sitting on the sofa in the living room in front of some dull rom-com running on TV, in a fluffy robe, with his brother Klaus patting some disgusting looking slime onto his face. It was a mud mask, he said.  _ A mud mask _ . He was Diego ‘The Kraken’ Hargreeves and he was, currently, wearing a fluffy robe over his trusted sweatpants, sat in front of a romcom with his brother in an equally fluffy robe, and had  _ a mud mask _ on his face. 

How did it come to this, one might ask. Where had he gone wrong in his life? What choices had led him here? How could he have fallen so low? Well, his story had begun earlier this evening when he had left the gym downstairs and pretty much bumped into Klaus who had been moping in the kitchen at that time. 

Well, perhaps  _ moping  _ was the wrong way to phrase it. His brother Klaus was the type of person who could make a whole thing out of a papercut, who would bawl his eyes out during sad dog movies, who would portray his theatrics over the smallest inconveniences and be disgruntled for days if someone ate his favorite ice cream. When he got quiet, however, that was when Diego would usually perk up. Klaus was always loud in some way, even when he did nothing at all. Quietness and Klaus just didn't go together so, whenever his brother would get silent, it was cause for concern. 

He had found Klaus sitting at the kitchen table even though there was no food in front of him and no Mom in sight or anyone else he would be talking to. He had just been sitting there, staring into space. However, as soon as Diego had approached him and asked him if he was okay, Klaus had quickly put up his walls and his mask again, flashed him one of his most dazzling smiles and said that he was grumpy because the girls went out today without him for a shopping trip, a movie, and food. He claimed that he felt left out but Diego knew that this was not it. Perhaps a part of him felt disgruntled about not being able to join them but deep down Klaus knew how important it was for the sisters to go out alone sometimes. He was not the type to hold grudges or be begrudging. 

It was then, he thought now, that he had made the biggest mistake of his life and had asked his little brother what he could do for him to make him less grumpy. Well … Now he was here. He shouldn't have asked. Of course, only Klaus would ask him to have a girls' night. And since Diego had never been able to say no to Klaus when he would look at him with those big green doe eyes looking sad, he had agreed at last. Now he was wearing a face mask, a fluffy robe and was forced to watch a fucking rom-com while his sisters were watching some horror movie and getting drunk. He wished he could get drunk right now. It would be mean towards Klaus, though. 

»You’ll see« Klaus grinned as he leaned back on the sofa. They sat opposite of each other on the same sofa, leaning sideways against the armrests, their legs meeting in the middle like they used to when they were little. »this mask will do wonders for your complexion, Dee. It will help reduce those wrinkles you got going on on your forehead.«

»Wrinkles?«

»Sure!« Klaus cackled. »From all the frowning you do! We are not getting any younger, Bruderherz! And you, Darling, are getting wrinkly.« 

»I’ll show you wrinkly next time you spend five hours in the bathtub.« 

»What the hell is going on here?« Of course, it would be Luther of all people walking into a scene like this. Of course, it would be Luther, his arch-nemesis, seeing him in such a compromising position. As he glanced over the backrest of the sofa, he did his absolute best to look as smug as it was possible with a fucking mud mask on his face. 

»What does it look like, Spaceboy?« Five, who had walked in beside their leader just rolled his eyes and teleported away before he could get roped into his brothers’ shenanigans. He had probably more important shit to do than relax with them.

»It looks like you have dirt on your face.« 

»It's a mud mask.« Diego argued back. »It's good for my skin. You should try it too sometimes. Would do wonders for your wrinkles.«

»What wrinkles?«

»From your constant frowning.« Klaus huffed and Diego shot him a glare. »There’s enough for everyone, Bärchen.« 

Luther looked confused at first, looking from Diego to Klaus and then to the TV. There was no way of telling what was actually going on inside that noggin of his but Luther, despite what he might sometimes say about his brother, was more perceptive than he gave him credit for. He was sure that he put two and two together right now and understood that Diego was just here in this situation because something was wrong with Klaus. 

»So, are you joining us or what, Teddy?« Klaus grinned.

»Is that one of Allie’s movies?« 

And just like that it was settled. Only ten minutes later, Luther sat on the other couch, wearing his pajama and a mud mask as if it was completely normal. He had to give it to Luther - the man had changed a great deal since the almost-apocalypse and since their team had gotten back together. And he had to give him credit for it as he was just joining them in their weird experiment without arguing or making a fuss about it. 

He had just looked at them, nodded his approval and joined them, even allowed Klaus to put mud on his face. Just like this. Something like this right here would have been unthinkable a year ago and yet here they were now. Three dudes, three brothers, sitting around watching their sister’s rom coms with mud masks and popcorn because one of them needed them to be around and spend time with him. 

There was a warmth that Diego couldn't quite explain to all of this. He felt warm inside just sitting here, hearing Klaus laugh at parts of the movies, hearing Luther sniffle at other parts of the movies. Sure, his face was itching under whatever weird concoction his brother had smeared all over him but it was nice. No missions, no vigilante activities, no people in need of his help, no fights, no arguments, no world-ending catastrophes, no masked assholes shooting up the place, no Reginald watching over them with disapproving eyes.

After two whole movies, the brothers finally went to wash off the mud from their faces that had become hard and started to flake off every time they would move a muscle in their faces. It was late, almost half-past twelve, when they sat around the kitchen table, tubs of their favorite ice cream flavors in front of them and spoons in their hands. 

»We should do this again.« Luther grinned as he shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and for once Diego was reminded of the little boy his brother used to be. That wide-eyed little boy that had looked at the world full of wonder and with just as much excitement as all of them. He looked like he did in the time when he had still had the childish fantasies of a life as a superhero, when he didn't need missions or their father’s approval just to function as a human being. It didn't happen often but ever since they had all gotten back together, it happened every now and then that there would be those cracks in Luther’s facade where his true self would shine through again. 

»Amen, Sister!« Klaus laughed and for a moment, the deep sadness in his green eyes seemed banished. Of course, Diego knew that it wasn't that easy. A few movies and ice cream wouldn't cure his brother’s depression or his trauma but maybe it was a start. Yet, he couldn't forget the way Klaus had been sitting here earlier or the haunted look in his eyes before he had noticed Diego. He was clean for a while now but his eyes were still those of a junkie on the hunt for his next hit. He was not stupid enough to think that his brother was magically healed because he was clean for a year now. 

»Hey…« He started quietly and flashed first a glance at Luther and then at Klaus. »What was going on earlier?«

»What do you mean?« Oh, that damned bastard. He knew exactly what Diego meant and he knew exactly how hard a time Diego had talking about shit like this. He was not the type to sit in a circle and sing kumbaya and talk about his feelings. If anything, he was more emotionally repressed than Five and Luther together and yet Klaus forced him to talk. 

»You seemed a bit down, earlier.«

»Oh.« 

»If you don't wanna talk about it, it's fine.« Luther added quickly as Klaus’ allowed his spoon to hover in mid-air, his eyes on the tub in front of him as if he was already getting lost in the maelstrom of his head again. »We just want you to know, that you can always talk to us no matter what.«

»Exactly.«

»Wow…« Klaus breathed. »Would you look at that. My big brothers getting really worked up just about little old me.« Although he tried to deflect with a joke, Diego could see the tears shimmering in his brother’s eyes that he refused to shed. 

»Well, you are a pain in the ass.« Diego scoffed and gently nudged his shoulder. »But you are  _ our  _ pain in the ass. So?«

»It's…« He paused and took a deep breath as if he needed to steel himself for what he was about to say. »It's … nothing, really. It's silly.«

»If it's making you feel down, it's not silly.« Luther once again surprised him with such insightful commentary.

»I just thought about a lot today .. about life and … everything that happened.« Klaus sighed and rolled his shoulders back as if he was preparing for battle. »I mean, I’m clean and I have my powers under control for the most part, everything should be fine and dandy and I should be happy but I’m … I’m not. I’m not happy. Don't get me wrong … I love that we are all back together and that we are getting along for once and … and that everything worked out so well but … I’m just … I don't know. I can't explain it. It's like … there is this big empty void inside me, you know? A black hole that swallows every good emotion that I could possibly feel. And I still don't know what to do with my life. All I do all day is sit around, hang around with you guys, train a bit here and there, pester my beloved siblings… I want more. For the first time in life, I really do. I want more than this. I never had ambitions or anything but now I feel … I feel like I am wasting my time, that I am wasting my life. Even on drugs, I didn't feel this way.«

»It's not true.« His normal reaction was to glare at Luther and Klaus’ look seemed hurt as he looked at their brother as well but Luther quickly continued. »I mean that you never had ambitions. It's not true. I remember a time when you had all kinds of ambitions. You always wanted to become a painter, an artist, a designer.«

»Yeah ... but that was before Dad took that away from me. And it was before he locked me in the mausoleum.«

»So what?« Diego smiled and grabbed Klaus by the shoulder to squeeze it. »Dad is not here anymore, right? You can do whatever you want. You already picked up painting again.« As was evident by the beautiful family portrait their brother had gifted them all for their last birthday. »And you are pretty talented. Why not make a career out of it? I bet Allison could hook you up with a few of her contacts. But … I just want you to know that it doesn't matter if you are just hanging around the house all day doing nothing. Five is doing the same thing, for god's sake. You are not a burden or useless or anything else Dad said. And I think … Well, maybe you should talk to someone.«

»I’m talking to you, aren't I?«

»I mean a professional … like Vanya did, like Allison did. This black hole inside of you … it will try to eat you whole if you don't fight it, Bro.«

»I forgot what a poet you were.« Klaus huffed and Diego gently punched his arm. As Klaus looked at him next, his eyes seemed a little clearer, less clouded, less haunted but Diego was not nearly naive enough to believe that one conversation would be enough to cure his brother of his demons. »But I must say, this mask really did wonders for your complexion. You look ten years younger and almost as good as I.«

Luther barked a loud laugh just as the backdoor of the kitchen opened and allowed the cold wind from outside to come in. Their sisters stopped dead in their tracks and Vanya had to grab onto Allison for a moment as she was swaying on the spot. 

»What's going on in here?« Allison smiled as she and Vanya barged into the kitchen from the street next to the inconspicuous small door and then pointed at Klaus. »Hey is that my bathrobe?«

»No, it's Mom’s.« Klaus replied quick-witted as always. There was nothing left to see of his earlier gloom on his face now. Sometimes it was scary how quickly Klaus would switch gears and act as if nothing was wrong. It truly made him wonder just how often he had not noticed how badly Klaus was really doing because his brother was just so damn good at fooling everyone. »Diego is wearing your’s.«

Allison was clearly dumbfounded, which only startled another bark-like laugh from Luther and quickly made Vanya join in with a high-pitched giggle that made the lamp over the table sway dangerously, even though she probably didn't even know what was so funny about the situation. Clearly, Allison had made it her mission to get her little sister drunk tonight and she had succeeded as always. Poor Vanya. He would put a glass of water and some aspiring next to her bed later when she was asleep. 

»And why is Diego wearing  _ my  _ bathrobe? And … hey! Have you eaten all the ice cream?«

»We had a girls' night.« Diego replied matter-of-factly as he shoved another spoon full of Allison’s favorite flavor into his mouth despite the fact that he detested it. He was petty like this and Klaus was not the only nuisance in this house. »We enjoyed having the house all to ourselves, watched movies, had mud masks, ate popcorn. You missed out on a lot of fun tonight.« 

For a moment, Allison seemed unsure if she should be angry or amused and, lastly, settled for an amused little chuckle. »Clearly.« She replied with a smile. »Well, Vanya, it seemed we’ve been to the wrong party tonight. Our movie was so bad that we left half-way through, the food at the restaurant was horrible and the bar we settled on was rowdy and overpriced.« 

Vanya gave another snort-like laugh at that and had to put a hand on her stomach. Maybe the ridiculousness of the situation finally hit her. Allison, however, quickly put an arm around her shoulders again and led her to the door leading into the hall. 

»Well, anyway.« She grinned. »We should leave the girls to their party, V. It's time for us to go to bed.« She winked over her shoulder, before leaving with Vanya and no doubt led her to her room and made sure she would get to bed safely. Vanya was a light-weight and couldn't handle her liquor very well but seeing her drunk was always an experience. 

Shortly thereafter, Luther got up from his chair too. »Okay, I think I’m hitting the hay too.« He yawned and then directed at Diego: »Five?«

»Five.« He agreed with a yawn of his own. Luther just nodded and, as he walked around them, patted first Klaus and then Diego on the shoulder. 

»What's with Five?« Klaus asked in confusion as he began cleaning up the mess they made only for Diego to quickly get up to help him. »Are you guys planning on pranking him? Without me?«

»Wha- No! No, it's not about Five.« He chuckled. »Although we could prank him again … We haven't done that for a while. We could … Exchange his coffee for decaf or something.« 

»Note it down, it's a date.« Klaus laughed but looked at him with a raised brow as Diego had still not given him an answer.

»Luther and I are going jogging every morning at five.«

»Since when?«

»We just started three days ago.« Diego shrugged. There was this look on Klaus’ face again that he didn't like to see. Like a deer in headlights, like a child that had lost their parents in a crowded mall. »Hey! Want to tag along?« He quickly asked with a grin. »I thought that you probably had no interest in getting up so early just to run with us but … if you would like to join us, I would really like that.« 

»I don't-«

»And it might do you some good.«

»Are you implying that I’m getting fat?«

Diego gently tapped a finger against Klaus’ forehead. »I mean your head. To fight that black hole of yours. Listen, I am not a professional, but I’ve read a lot during stakeouts - enough to know that when you’re dealing with depression it's important to have regular schedules that  _ include  _ working out and get your endorphin rushes from that. Healthy body, healthy mind, right? I don't know if it’ll help but-«

»It's worth a try?«

»So you in?«

»Count me in, Sensei.« 

A little while later, they were walking towards their bedrooms. Diego already had a glass of water and some aspirin with him as he walked past his own room and made Klaus pause in confusion. His brother hadn't questioned him about the water and the aspirin before so he had probably thought they were for him. 

»Where are you going?«

»Vanya.« Diego shrugged and held up the aspirin. Quickly, confusion made way for a fond little grin on Klaus’ face before his brother held up a hand for Diego to wait. He hurried over to one of the closets at the side of the hallway, opened it and pulled a bucket out before he returned to Diego and Vanya’s bedroom. They were silent as they crept inside. Vanya was fast asleep in her bed, curled onto her side and neatly tucked in by Allison. As Diego placed the medicine beside her, Klaus put down the bucket next to her bed too. They left her like this and returned to their own rooms that were still right next to each other even after all those years. 

»Five then.« Diego reminded him with a grin.

»Five.« Klaus agreed and just as Diego opened his door, he spoke up again. »Dee?«

»Hmm?«

»Thank you. For the girls night.«

»Anytime, Sister.« 


End file.
